You’ve seen the booth. You’ve seen the props. You’ve probably even laughed at one of our TikTok shenanigans. But what you haven’t seen is the real work behind the magic… the late nights, early mornings, perfectly timed van runs and fresh coffee that keeps Yorkshire’s busiest photo booth team running like clockwork. Welcome to a weekend inside Jellybean HQ — where the lights are on long after the dancing stops.
A Day in the Life: When 7 Weddings Call
Let’s take a typical Friday or Saturday in peak wedding season. We might have up to 7 bookings heading out in one day, all across Yorkshire and beyond. So what time do we start? Somewhere between 6am and 7am, when the shutters go up (well the big steel side door opens) at Jellybean HQ and the first priority is — of course — getting the bean-to-cup coffee machine fired up.
That machine, by the way, is no accident. Fresh coffee. Fresh milk. 24/7. For our team, customers, and anyone who walks through our doors. It was hands-down one of the best business investments we’ve ever made. Not only does it save us the £5+ per cup at Starbucks, but it also means it’s a great opportunity to just take a few moments, sit back and relax with a biccie too.
With caffeine secured, it’s onto the serious stuff. We pull up our load sheets which are pre-printed for every booking, and head into the server to retrieve each couple’s assets, including personalised animations, photo templates, design files and event-specific info.
Because of our set-up, each mirror or booth is wirelessly loaded with its unique files before being packed. Printers are aligned. USB sticks are labelled and set. Every backdrop is matched to the right job and van. Nothing is left to chance. Plus did you know all of our mirrors and booths have names (all named by each of our team) – so we know who’s got who. Stacey’s favourite mirrors is Alvin (don’t ask)
Vans, Venues & The Jellybean Logistics Dance
From there, it’s round one of van drop-offs — large setups delivered to venues in advance, with our team allowing extra time at each stop for parking challenges, stairs, or those “where’s the function room again?” moments. This is all arranged well in advance with venues and customers, down to the exact square metre of space.
Meanwhile, back at base, the second wave of kits is prepped. Depending on shift structure, some vans are fully pre-loaded and securely parked in our yard, ready for handoff to another member of the team.
At around 11am, the phones go off with a little nudge to all staff: a timesheet reminder. As well as managing shifts via our Office 365-integrated rota system (hello holidays and swaps!), we also run three WhatsApp groups — one for announcements (non-muteable!), one for general chit chat and sharing some funny photos and cringy bad examples we’ve come across, and one specifically for expenses (aka everyone’s least favourite, where receipts go to live).
The Night Shift, the USBs, and the Uploads
Once the events are in full swing, we’re not done. Far from it. Our team are out running booths, throwing those iconic inflatable bananas that are at every booking, and finding the best angle for a group shot of 14 in a space made for 5. But the real finish time for the bosses? That’s not until 3am, when we roll back into HQ, unload vans, and start checking everything back in.
First, we retrieve our signature Jellybean USBs — carefully hung up inside each mirror, containing every single photo and print from the night. While our booths are set to upload live to our encrypted servers, we keep these physical backups just in case the Wi-Fi at a venue didn’t behave.
From there, we check galleries, upload any missed shots, and prep the next day’s load sheets — all before heading home for a few hours’ kip and doing it all over again.
18 Hours a Day, Every Weekend
While the events are happening, our live chat and social media channels stay open for up to 18 hours a day. Questions about galleries? Tech support for a mirror? Last-minute changes to a booking? We’re on it. Our customers know they can reach us quickly — and that’s something we take seriously. We’ve always wanted to be as open and contactable as possible. And with the nature of our business we do get some random messages late at night (but its also the time we’re awake and at work)
So next time you see one of our magic mirrors light up at a wedding, just know there’s a whole operation (powered by coffee, calendars, and clever people) running in the background – and not just some equipment stacked in a sweltering container or living room. We’re not just a photo booth company. We’re Yorkshire’s most hard-working, well-oiled, sleep-deprived-but-smiling 3AM Club.
And would you expect anything else from Yorkshires Number 1 Photobooth Company?
